Any other "downsizers headed for the hills" out there?

[Tyler Durden]

Anyone here who's paid me any mind knows I and and my family are on the fast track to Canada. The property is paid for. The well is paid for. The wind generators are paid for. The septic field, basement and foundation are paid for. The current house goes on the market in less than 30 days and then the new house, barn, greenhouse, garden, fence and bridge over the stream will be paid for.

All that remains is a little carpentry and amatuer electrics and plumbing, then we will have accomplished the goal:

DOWNSIZING WITH INDEPENDENCE, AND MOSTLY VEGETARIANISM (we will be living near Goderich Ontario, and they still FISH there: sue me).

You folks KNOW I do not look on this as cowardly running away, but a necessary evolution to protect my family AND OTHERS from the coming Recession/Depression and (Dog Forbid) Revolution. Plus, being in a moderately remote community of less than 800 with the nearest towns no more than 7,000 (10 km distant) and 15,000 (35 km distant), I think that diminishes the chance of dying from the inevitable Flu Pandemic as well.

My question is this: Anyone else doing this? And what are you doing? Just curious.

Also, if the crash happens with attendant violence (AND you aren't dying of communicable "Bird Flu") you may call on me to at least find somewhere you can pitch a tent and dig a latrine, by the way.

[Tyler Durden]

1. "No, Monica...."

"Just YOU."

I always thought Monica Piper was a hoot.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bridget Burke]

3. I don't have the cash handy ...

Single & working at a job I can't afford to quit.

Good luck to you. But I won't be begging for a place to dig a latrine in your family compound.

[Warpy]

4. You can't save yourselves from the coming Depression

but you may be able to save your children from Bush's imperial wars.

Good luck.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Welcome to Canada

Are you planning to stay long? Or just until the madness subsides?

Lovely town, Goderich. I've travelled a lot through that part of the province.

[Tyler Durden]

19. Forever!

I want to be buried in the Port Albert Cemetery, <1km from Lake Huron.

[Redstone]

6. Anyone who says it's "cowardly running away"

is minding your business instead of their own. If you think this is the right thing to do for your family, then do it. Others have no right to judge.

I'm not going to go to such lengths to deal with the stuff we're worried about, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't. It could indeed turn out that you were a lot smarter than the rest of us.

Good luck to you.

Redstone

[Ilsa]

7. I wish we could do that, but my son needs special help

here fromt he schools, and he's happy here. But we're thinking about having a place int he country with plenty of land around us. We're worried about water rights, too. I don't know that I could convince my husband to leave the country, though.

I wish you and your family lots of luck and happiness.

[FloridaPat]

8. I don't think it's cowardly. I am looking around, but will be heading

for the tropics. Canada is beautiful, the people are nice but the weather really sucks.

And our government really sucks. It could get really bad here. Another "terrorist attack" could make these clowns dictators. They could make the USSR in the old days look like the cradle of democracy. Best of luck.

[Ready4Change]

9. You might be wise, paranoid, or just choosing a different path.

Should things go sour you may be taking the wisest course of action possible.

Should things turn out more optimistically, you might be considered paranoid.

And/or, you may just be choosing a different path. Nothing wrong with that.

I've considered setting myself up with less dependance on "the grid" but I'm nowhere near ready to take the plunge. So perhaps I'll be seen as foolish, or reasonable, or choosing the more common, lazy path. ;)

Best wishes.

[woodsprite]

10. Best of luck

to you. It sounds like you have a wonderful plan. If I could talk hubby into it, I would. *I'VE* actually looked into what we would need to do to move there. The land, surroundings, etc. really appeal to me, let alone the fact that it appears to be safer there than here for our children.

I was at a public safety meeting the other night in town. They've had a rash of home invasions lately (100+ since October). The officer that was giving the talk said "Remember, there is nothing in your house that is worth giving your life for". I stood up and said "I have my 2 children right down the hall. They are my life." I swear she looked at me like I grew horns.

So yeah, I'd go in a flash to protect my kids. Now, if I can get hubby to believe we really have a problem here. He thinks my writing letters to our reps is going to get me labeled as a political wacko.

[seabeyond]

11. you may call on me to at least find somewhere

this was going to be my question. then again i am way closer to the mexico border if i need to get out. if it is that easy for mexicans to come in, surely i will be able to find a way to get out

[sweetheart]

12. Its great ... the slowness of nature...

I just planted 20 trees today in a field of bracken on the "farm" like
you describe. I've never planted trees en-masse before in my life, and
there is something joyfully rewarding in it. :-)

You get to save money on dog collars, and learn about fencing, strainers,
gates, livestock, and all sorts of handy country skills... its really
like green acres. I've yet to try planting and growing our own foods,
as i need a proper greenhouse to start things given the harsh wind storms
up this way near orkney.

The dogs have their own special built entrance with double flaps through
a 2.5 foot thick stone wall that they no longer require me to open the
door for them... and its a peaceful coexistance... I contrast this in
my memory of walking them in manhattan, scooping poop and never having
them run free to actually hunt mice and rabbits like their genetics
tell them to do.

Its also nice not to catch every fikking common cold and flu going around
on public transit... to befriend good country folks who have never
endured the megacities of this world and enjoy simple goodwill helping
lift a fencepost or whatnot, trading eggs from a neighbor's chicken
patch, for some tobacco from the duty free... country barter!

The new term is "greensizing" which does not necessarily mean "down",
as if anything, country life is distinctly more green, with many more
species of birds and insects... and no less wealth... for that matter,
depending on what you consider wealth to be, it feels so incredibly
rich.

[Delphinus]

17. Sounds like you

have a wonderful place too, Sweetheart.

[amazona]

13. people in remote siberian villages died of the 1918 flu

Eskimos in remote areas died of it. People on islands. Sounds like to me that you're giving up your one and only life to protect yourself from something that you can't protect yourself from in that manner. Lots of people dropped out in the 60s and 70s thinking they were saving their children from nuclear war. They just saved their children from opportunity and good schools and getting to see more of the world than a backward village. My dad didn't fight his way down off the mountain so I could climb back in a cave and hide. I'll live while I'm alive and let fears of flu and armageddon take care of themselves. People all over the world, billions of people, struggle to get away from subsistence farming for the simple reason that it is a miserable lifestyle, "nasty, brutish, and short" in the classic phrase.

God, I sound negative. Actually, I'm sure it will work out for you because you sound very motivated, well funded, and knowledgeable. But for most people the simple life is a thousand times more miserable and effortful than the regular suburban lifestyle.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Tyler Durden]

20. It won't really be all that rustic.

Our house will be 2 stories on a 2+ acre plot with stream. The green house will be 60% hydroponic to maximize output. We're starting with about 1.2 kW low end to 3.6 kW top end generation with lead-acid/NiCd jell batteries plus inverter.

we'll still be hooked up to hydro, we just don't expect to use it too much, as our heat and hot water will be wood.

But if you thought I was giving up my movie collection...fuggedaboutit.

[BeTheChange]

14. I've got a 3 year plan

Hopefully, it can wait that long.

[catmandu57]

15. Well, good luck Tyler

and thanks for the offer, but, we're going to have to make our stand here. We're in a better position than many people and should be able to live off the land here, if we have to.

[Delphinus]

16. Best of luck to you and yours.

It sounds like a wonderful place.

I don't think you're cowardly - we all have to do what we all have to do.

[kk897]

18. I used to dream of moving to Alaska and sort of homesteading...

...because I HATE hot weather, for one thing. Well, now it turns out Alaska's getting pretty warm, too. Sigh.

Honestly, I do wish I could do the very thing you're doing, Tyler. I guess I was born missing the patriotic gene, because I have no particular "I love America and I'm going to stick around to make it better" feelings. If I had the dough, I'd go. New Zealand looks good to me, too, or a northern European country. Not that they'd want me!

Good luck to you and yours, and I hope your precautions will end up being just precautions and not necessities.